The Good Book Club

Jan 14, 2019

What is the Good Book Club?

The Good Book Club is an invitation to all Episcopalians to join in reading Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans during Epiphany 2019. Episcopalians will start reading Romans on January 7, 2019 and read a section every day (except Sundays) through the Epiphany season.

The Good Book Club offers an opportunity to dive deeply into scripture and create a daily practice of engagement with God’s Word. In surveys taken before and after the first Good Book Club project in 2018 (reading the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts), participants reported growth in their understanding of scripture and a deepening of their prayer life. Perhaps most significantly, the percentage of people who reported reading the Bible on a daily basis increased to 73 percent at the end of the first Good Book Club reading, from 45 percent when it began.

Why Romans?

After diving deep into the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts during the Good Book Club in 2018, we will delve into the Letter to the Romans, written by the Apostle Paul in 56-57 CE. Romans shares Paul’s attempt to explain how this new expression of faith is rooted in Judaism but is available to all of humanity. As Paul writes to the new community of Christians in Rome, he explores the concepts of salvation, the power of God, and grace. Many biblical scholars consider Romans to be Paul’s most important theological treatise. While Romans is not always easy reading, this sixth book of the New Testament articulates what it means to be a disciple of Christ and how that translates into daily life—lessons to inform and inspire followers of Christ from the beginning to the 21st century.